Vegan & Gluten Free Pizza

There is always something special about eating pizza - the sauce, the toppings and delicious wood fired crust the just melts in your mouth. As vegans and gluten free eaters, we were overjoyed to find pizza recipes online so it is with much love and joy that we share some of these with you here. Enjoy!  

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Simple Pizza Crust

This recipe is brought to you by minimalistbaker.com

Ingredients:
3 cups gluten free flour blend **
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp sugar, divided
1 Tbsp yeast
1 1/4 cup warm water, divided
1 Tbsp olive oil

** 1 cup white rice flour + 1 cup brown rice flour + 1 cup tapioca flour 
+ 3/4 tsp xanthan gum

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine yeast and 3/4 cup warm water - about 110 degrees. Too hot and it will kill the yeast! Let set for 5 minutes to activate. Sprinkle in 1 Tbsp of the sugar a few minutes in.

In a separate bowl, combine gluten free flour blend, salt, baking powder and remaining 2 Tbsp sugar. Whisk until well combined. Make a well in the dry mixture and add the yeast mixture. Add the olive oil and additional 1/2 cup warm water before stirring. Then stir it all together until well combined, using a wooden spoon (see photo).

Lightly coat a baking sheet or pizza stone with non-stick spray and plop your dough down. Using your hands and a little brown rice flour if it gets too sticky, work from the middle and push to spread/flatten the dough out to the edge. You want your base to be pretty thin - less than 1/4 inch. Put the pizza in the oven to pre-bake for roughly 25-30 minutes, or until it begins to look dry. Cracks may appear, but that's normal and totally OK.

Remove from oven and spread generously with your favourite pizza sauce, tofu ricotta cheese or another kind of non-dairy cheese + desired toppings. We went with Daiya to keep ours dairy-free. Pop back in oven for another 20-25 minutes, or until the crust edge looks golden brown and the toppings are warm and bubbly. Cut immediately and serve. Reheats well the next day in the oven or microwave.

Italian Herb Pizza Crust

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 1/4 cups gluten-free oat flour
1 cup potato starch, not potato flour
2/3 cup quinoa flour
2/3 cup millet flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Herb mixture:
1 1/2 teaspoons Frontier dried oregano
1 teaspoon Frontier dried sweet basil
1/2 teaspoon Frontier garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon Frontier red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Yeast mixture:
1 cup + 2 tablespoons soymilk
2 - 2 ¼ teaspoons dry active yeast
1 teaspoon pure cane sugar
4 teaspoons ground flax meal 
3 tablespoons warm water
1/4 cup sunflower oil

This recipe is brought to you by edibleperspective.com

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl [ceramic works well for dough] stir together the oat flour, potato starch, quinoa flour, millet flour, baking powder, salt, herbs, garlic, red pepper flakes, and black pepper until well mixed.  Set aside.

Place soymilk in a small saucepan and gently warm over low heat until it reaches 105-115 degrees. It will feel just warm but not hot.

Pour 3/4 cup of the milk into a cereal-sized bowl, sprinkle the yeast over top, and then the sugar. Whisk for just a few seconds then let sit undisturbed for 10 minutes. The yeast should rise and become very foamy once activated. If it does not become foamy it has not activated and you need to start this step over.  It is most likely due to the milk being too hot or too cold.  If it’s too hot the milk will kill the yeast.

While the yeast mixture rests, whisk together the flax and water for 20-30 seconds until it starts to thicken. Set aside for 5-10 minutes. The flax mixture should be thick and gelatinous in texture after sitting.

Form a well in the center of the flour mixture with your hand pour in 3 tablespoons of oil, the flax mixture, and the yeast mixture. Stir with a large spoon until the mixture is combined. It will be dry and crumbly and not dough-like at this point.

Slowly drizzle in leftover warm milk [about 1T at a time] and knead in the bowl until the mixture comes together and forms a dough ball. About 1 minute. I used just over 1/4 cup extra milk, but you may need slightly more/less.

Sprinkle a very light coating of oat flour onto a hard, flat surface and turn the dough out onto the surface. Knead with both hands—folding over twice while pressing with both palms then turning 180 degrees—for 5-7 minutes. Do not skimp on the kneading. Set a timer to be sure you hit the 5 minute mark. Feel of the dough:The dough will feel rough and grainy at first but once you hit the 5 minute mark it should start to soften and feel smooth to the touch. The dough should have the texture of Play-Doh and feel slightly springy and stretchy when you’re done. It should be on the verge of being sticky while you knead the dough, so avoid over-flouring your surface. If the dough is cracked and feels dry, knead a bit of milk into it until soft and smooth.

Once soft and smooth form into a ball, place in your mixing bowl, and drizzle on about 1-2 teaspoons of oil. Rub oil over the dough. Cover with a towel and place in a non-drafty, warm spot [ideally 75-80 degrees], undisturbed for 45 minutes. The dough will increase in size by about 75%. It will most likely not fully double in size. 

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place a pizza pan or baking sheet in the top oven to preheat. 

Score the dough into 2 or 3 segments, remove one, cover the bowl with the towel, then knead for about 30 seconds until smooth. When you start to knead the dough may feel a bit crumbly but it will quickly return to its smooth state.

Place dough on a large sheet of parchment paper [to fit your pan] and gently roll the dough out between 1/8 - 1/4 inch in thickness.  Be sure the dough is rolled evenly and thinly. The dough should roll easily and hold together very well. If the edges crack, lightly crimp them together with your fingers or slice away with a knife.  But avoid forming a thick edge.

Brush the entire surface and edges with a light coating of oil. 

Place the rolled out dough [with the parchment] onto the hot pan and bake for 14-16 minutes until stiff and golden brown around the edges. Remove the pizza and top as desired. Bake for another few minutes until the cheese is melted and toppings are hot. Remove and let rest for about 3 minutes then slice with a large chopping knife and serve.  

Repeat with remaining dough.

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